Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

946. Elevator Chase

Frost had experienced what it’s like to freefall before. Given her absurdly high stats, she’d come out unscathed from no matter what height she fell from.

This was because of a physical phenomenon called terminal velocity.

In short, she would fall at a set speed due to the resistance in the air. The same should have applied here. Of course, an object with more mass would fall faster, but it would also reach its set limit.

However, the same could not be said when a gravity-manipulating device was in play. The Gravity Core that controlled the descent and ascent of the elevator malfunctioned, causing its gravity to drastically increase.

As a result, the Central Elevator disappeared from underneath Frost in the blink of an eye.

“Shit –!”

She was left suspended in space, as though reality had yet to process what had just happened.

But the shock was temporary.

Blazing balls of flames engulfed her arms, propelling her downwards.

“Nav – Keep Jury on Morgause and Joy! Ensure she keeps them both alive!”

“The chances of them surviving is over 90%.”

“I’m not taking any chances! That drops to zero if that elevator doesn’t stop falling!”

Descending or ascending too quickly in a Site resulted in catastrophic side effects. The mere act of moving from Level to Level was dangerous enough for those who were not strong enough to withstand it.

Still, even the weakest Worker would remain mostly intact.

However, plummeting through without adhering to the decompression and compression times was what caused the physical symptoms of these to amplify. The same principle regarding a can being crushed the further it descended, or how an angler fish would explode when brough to the surface applied.

As a result, Frost needed to stop that elevator at all costs.

[Thermal Propagation] alone was not enough to catch up to the rapidly accelerating elevator. She strung multiple explosions together, hoping it would help propel her further, but this did not help her in the slightest.

< Jury will keep Morgause and Joy in a [Temporal Stasis] when things begin to go awry >

“Hasn’t it already gone to shit!?” Frost roared, twisting her body backwards.

Then, with both palms facing the darkness above, she released the limits of [Thermal Propagation] – [Amplification – Thermal Propagation].

< (O) Thermal Propagation III >

< EFFECT: Create powerful thermal explosions within your palms. Deal 3,000 MAG ATT damage >

< COST: 500 MP >

This, at the measly cost of 1,000,000 Nex, resulted in:

|| Detonation ||

< EFFECT: Create immense thermal explosions within your palms. Deal 30,000 MAG ATT damage >

< NEX: 73,210,450 >

While weak in the grand scheme of things, the flames it produced completely enveloped the entire elevator shaft. Darkness turned to a meld of rich orange plumes and flicking yellows as she was thrown down at the speed of a bullet.

The added pressure of the contained space also lent its hand in making it appear like she was being fired from a giant barrel.

She pursed the falling elevator. When it seemed like she was gaining speed, it suddenly began to accelerate.

“It’s increasing again. At this rate I won’t be able to catch up at this rate!”

“A malfunction in CogitO’s systems must be driving it down to the lowest Level. Malfunctions are not uncommon from what I understand. The Site itself utilizes its own spatial phenomena. This results in unintended effects. This is one of them.”

“Tch. It might be faster to just head straight for the Cognition Terminal than to chase it!”

Frost weighed her options. The only reason she didn’t turn back was because of two reasons. The first required her to man the Cognition Terminal for the duration of their stay. Secondly, Frost wanted to remain close to the others in case Morgause or Jury couldn’t save Joy.

“No. I have something that can help!”

The crux of the issue was there was only one Frost.

Of all the Skills she possessed, there was one that allowed her to create a clone of herself.

[Summon Apparition: Mimicry].

It was a newly acquired Skill from the Devourer Profession which summoned a Mimic of Amalgamation. She slit her palm open with a tooth, allowing her blood to spiral around her. Once it had grown large enough to touch the distant rims of the shaft, it compressed into a singular, bloody orb.

Limbs then grew from that orb.

Eventually, a naked doppelganger of Frost emerged, with the only difference being her scarlet eyes.

She carried a fifth of most of her important stats. Other than her eyes, this Mimic did not possess any of Frost’s Stats or Abilities aside from her all-devouring maw and shape-shifting powers.

“Devour?” She asked, falling alongside Frost with an elated expression.

“Return to Overseer’s Command Room. You are to man it until further notice.”

“Consume!” The Mimic’s grin encompassed her entire head, causing it to hinge open and reveal countless toothy tentacles that craved to consume the living.

At once, the Mimic’s body elongated as blood-red tentacles burst from her body. They latched her to the walls. Then, twenty more grew from her back, each barbed with a razor sharp, scythe-like tip that pierced the walls with ease.

Each puncture caused a torrent of Liquid Nex to begin pouring into the shaft. The destruction of the elevator shaft did not stop here. A deafening crash caused cracks to form along the reinforced glass that kept the Liquid Nex within the walls.

Pipes larger than five meters in height split apart. Unrefined Liquid Nex of a variety of colors showered Frost. They evaporated shortly after being exposed to the air, resulting in a high concentration of ambient Nex, which was quickly absorbed by Frost’s [Nex Accumulator] Ability.

“It smashed right through the Third Level… Was something obstructing its descent?”

The answer arrived the moment Frost passed by the entrance of the Third Level. The entire reception was encased in a thin veil of crystals. This was, without a shadow of doubt, Silicon Rot.

“Infecta Rot has more units here than we thought, huh! But didn’t we remove them all!? Unless, they can also appear on other Levels simultaneously as well?”

< They can. However, the Tribulation Warning ended when we cleared the Administrative Floor >

< As you should know – It should be impossible for a Tribulation to occur on that Floor >

“Meaning!?”

< Consider this – G-Y7 is a snapshot of the past leading towards its Zeroed Horizon >

< It is highly likely that Infecta Rot had a considerable hold in the Site, which led to its demise >

This was the most probable reason and would explain why Infecta Rot were specifically targeting this Site.

“… Just what else are they after in a Site of all places?” Frost whispered as she blankly severed her left hand.

She did not sever her right hand since it contained her wife’s ring. Furthermore, it was her dominant hand. She held her right hand up, clasping the air as red particles of blood formed, creating a hissing sound.

It formed a great eight-meter lance in the shape of a double helix. Once the blood fully crystalized, she attached her severed hand into the space between and drew Steel Strand, wrapping it around the lance.

“Nav. Tell them to duck. NOW!”

Then, she wrapped it around herself and launched it with an earth-shattering heave.

The sonic boom it created obliterated debris and further ruptured the elevator shaft.

A scarlet shock collar surrounded the lance. It pierced into the top of the elevator like a knife into the membrane of a drum, lodging itself firmly.

< Usari didn’t know what hit her >

“It wasn’t my intention to hit her!” Frost cried. “Who else is alive right now!?”

< Everyone aside from the Repenters. They have already been reduced to mush. You finished Usari off >

Frost was dragged along, but no matter the Amplified Skills she threw, she could not increase her speed in a meaningful way.

That was until she received Jury’s message.

< “Frost. I’m going to slow our descent! [Temporal Distortion] should give you some time! But… Do you have a way to stop it?” >

“I do! I’m only limited by my blood, and I have almost an unlimited amount of it! However, a better option would be to destroy the Gravity Core inside of the elevator. I’d get you to do that, but it’d make descending far too treacherous, especially once we start reaching the lower Levels… Still, it comes to it, then you know what to do!”

< “Good luck. Show Joy how cool you are~!” >

That small remark caused Frost to grin as the elevator began descending at a suspiciously slower pace. [Temporal Distortion] allowed Jury to slow time in a small bubble within a short proximity of herself.

Whilst Jury could move freely within this bubble, those contained had their time slowed by a factor of five. Half of an Isolation Sphere, but it was effective to the point where even Frost would struggle immensely against Jury because of this.

“Thanks Jury. I forget how powerful Time Magic is.”

Frost could now approach it. A few chains of [Thermal Propagation] brought her just fifty meters away from it.

However, that would not be so simple.

A barrage of explosive streaks of light came flying upwards. They pierced through the darkness, collectively appearing like a star before fragmenting into a thousand individual rods of light.

They struck the walls and the pipework, causing massive metal debris to collapse. Countless flew past Frost who stared unflinchingly. She did not even need to move a single finger to avoid them.

However, the same could not be said about the elevator. Its immense size made it a walking target.

As a result, it took a heavy battering.